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Keith Ward
620

Keith Ward 620

I felt a brief wave of sorrow at the fact that Agent could mean the end of GTA. Though I would agree that it's time to end the series once and for all. It's had a good run... Why start forcing them out?

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Snake Without a Tongue
79

Snake Without a Tongue 79

I felt a brief wave of sorrow at the fact that Agent could mean the end of GTA. Though I would agree that it's time to end the series once and for all. It's had a good run... Why start forcing them out?

Bite your tongue off and swallow it.

They'd never scrap a cash cow like GTA.

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Omnia sunt Communia
123

Omnia sunt Communia 123

Because they're far from done with the series? I cannot see them losing any money from it so until that happens there will continue to be Grand Theft Autos and there will continue to be people who think that just because a game on a new system is not as a good as a game on a older system that has had a lot more time to perfect itself is better.

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JOSEPH X
132

JOSEPH X 132

Because they're far from done with the series? I cannot see them losing any money from it so until that happens there will continue to be Grand Theft Autos and there will continue to be people who think that just because a game on a new system is not as a good as a game on a older system that has had a lot more time to perfect itself is better.

If Agent is going to be the `ultimate action game`, what would any future GTA`s be? Not-so-ultimate action games?

Admit it, it`s over for GTA if they will be making games that they know from the outset are going to be inferior.

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Omnia sunt Communia
123

Omnia sunt Communia 123

I wouldn't peg GTA as an action game, to be honest. Also, do you know anything about marketing? Of course they're going to say every game they make is the ultimate INSERT GENRE HERE game. Otherwise people wouldn't bother buying it.

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Guanxi
0

Guanxi 0

"This is Michael Shorrock. I’m the Director of 3rd Party Relations at SCEA. As you may have seen this morning/last night on GameHead with Geoff Keighley, we are announcing that a new franchise from Rockstar Games will be exclusive to PS3. As part of our long standing relationship with Rockstar, and the incredible success for both companies with the cultural icon that is Grand Theft Auto, we’ve agreed to the PlayStation exclusive rights of the next great franchise from the Rockstar studios.

Everyone knows to have success in this business you need to look ahead, identifying the talent and titles that are going to give consumers new kinds of gaming experiences that help set the bar for the rest of the industry. Rockstar has a heritage for doing just that. We have had incredible success with the GTA franchise and are happy to continue to offer those titles on our platforms, and even more excited about what’s to come from the current and future relationship between our companies. Rockstar really wanted to make a game that you can truly only do on PS3, harnessing the power of CELL and Blu-ray disc and this deal lets them do just that.. This is really a win-win situation for both companies. As Jack mentioned in the interview with Geoff, this franchise is not LA Noire, but something all new. We agreed with Rockstar and Take-Two Interactive Software that we wouldn’t disclose anything more about the deal or title at this time, so stay tuned, we’ll share more info as soon as we can."

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Sergi
2

Sergi 2

Because they're far from done with the series? I cannot see them losing any money from it so until that happens there will continue to be Grand Theft Autos and there will continue to be people who think that just because a game on a new system is not as a good as a game on a older system that has had a lot more time to perfect itself is better.

If Agent is going to be the `ultimate action game`, what would any future GTA`s be? Not-so-ultimate action games?

Admit it, it`s over for GTA if they will be making games that they know from the outset are going to be inferior.

Well they can always make GTA what it really should be. An in depth crime sim/action game that finally actually makes it seem as if you are a criminal in the underworld and choice is your option. Rather you want to be a big time gangster or a small time crook. A very in depth storyline and where you can make decisions. I think that's the next logical step for the GTA series. I'm very intrigued by Agent but I don't know enough about it to even put it on my Top 20 Most Anticipated list.

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JOSEPH X
132

JOSEPH X 132

Agent would still be possible on the xbox, the PS3 has a dual layer reading lens so the max would be 50Gigs. The plan by Blu-ray is to go to 16 layer disks 400G, but the PS3 couldn`t play them. With MS launching games on demand it would be possible to send bigger games down the line.

The only question with 50G is how big do you want a game to be? GTA IV is less than 8G, so they could do four cities the size of Liberty (Washington, Moscow, London and Berlin) and still have space for say, Afganhistan. They could just use cutscenes to go from one airport to the next, and hey presto you`ve just come out into a berlin that`s as big as Liberty City from a Washington or Moscow that was just the same.

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SovietWarrior42
0

SovietWarrior42 0

The Cold War era of the game is really appealing, it's one of those things that we still don't know much about. Those location ideas make me even more excited about the game. It reminds me of the Moscow level on the first Tony Hawk's Underground. I loved that level, and to have an action game in it would be fantastic.

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Nightwing 0613
29

Nightwing 0613 29

Let the PS3 users have this exclusive title. After all, we got both GTA4 DLC's. Hopefully after TBoGT is released, R* will announce more DLC episodes for GTA4 exclusive only on Xbox 360.

Rockstar only ever planned two DLC episodes for GTA IV (Impossible Trinity), and Microsoft only paid for two. Anything else would just be tacked on and wouldn't fit. After TBOGT, they will move onto the next GTA, they won't keep punching out DLC for an old game.

But on topic, this game will be great. R* said they want to create the 'ultimate action game', so expect some free-roam from GTA and a much better weapon and cover system, as well as a powerful narrative.

2 more DLC packs have been announced...Point Lookout comes out on June 23rd & Mothership Zeta comes out in July.

So why is so impossible for R* to keep making DLC for GTA IV? Personally, i would love more. I would like a Huang Lee/Chinatown Wars story arc for the console, other than that, I wouldn't mind other packs with Gordon Sergeant, Malc and maybe even a female main character.

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Mafioso86
3

Mafioso86 3

Cool stuff, congrats to the PS3 people... maybe the bickering over the DLC can stop now? This does sound pretty cool, with the whole cold war espionage thing, especially considering that R* North are making it... if it seems good enough I might even be forced in invest in a PS3. I just hope that GTA doesn't get put on the back burner or anything due to this project.

As far as further DLCs for IV are concerned I have my doubts that R* North will make anything... but it is possible that they might give Leeds or another studio the go ahead to make some stuff along the lines of LCS or VCS for the LC that was seen in IV. I've been saying how much I'd love to see a game based in IV's LC taking place in the mid 90s where you play as Dwayne on his rise to power. Something else that would be really cool would be a game taking place in like the 20s, 30s, or 40s in this LC. Mafia and Godfather were fun games... but I can't imagine how incredible that kind of idea would be if R* did it. You could maybe play as a young Jon Gravelli or one of Packie's ancestors or something.

Edited June 5, 2009 by Mafioso86

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Slamman
129

Slamman 129

L.A. Noire WAS to be PS3 exclusive, but the things behind the project broke down so now we get a new project, and by "we", I mean early PS3 adopters. I now have two Xbox360s so exclusives aren't too much the hassle they had appeared to be. Most gamers may eventually add two systems for all the endless variety they afford, but one thing I look forward to is the 1970s setting as proposed for GTA by fans, and that a game exclusive to PS3 should better use the hardware without ANY compromise, which is something I think is key in doing it that way.

I'll buy it 'sight unseen', such is my faith that Houser is doing good work and on the right track. A lot of what makes up the game seems a natural off-shoot of GTA in fact.

Joseph, give it up mate, later then sooner, you'll be eating crow!! haha

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Slamman
129

Slamman 129

I suspect next year, already announced games have been pushed out... But as said earlier, GTA on the next gen is just beginning, it's not going anywhere. There are more GTA fans I would say then any other game out there.

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tjawzy
1

tjawzy 1

According to Boomtown it will be developed by some R* team in Edinburg. The big question for me is whether this game will be developed by the team behind GTA or not. And if it is, will it mean that the next GTA gets pushed back or that the GTA series are completely finished?

Rockstar North (based in Edinburgh) were the team who develop Grand Theft Auto games, yes. However they are capable of creating more than one game at a time just like any other developer. I don't think GTA NeXt will be pushed back at all because I'm pretty sure it has been in the works for a long time already. They have done it in the past and I'm pretty sure they can do it again.

Okay, thanks! Thought R* north was based in NY

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Slamman
129

Slamman 129

Nope, the main team is Edinburg Scotland. Rockstar North specifically. Don't worry too much about it, they have plenty of folks to assist in the development in the various branches abroad. The main core will be RN I am sure

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neo92boi
79

neo92boi 79

"This is Michael Shorrock. I’m the Director of 3rd Party Relations at SCEA. As you may have seen this morning/last night on GameHead with Geoff Keighley, we are announcing that a new franchise from Rockstar Games will be exclusive to PS3. As part of our long standing relationship with Rockstar, and the incredible success for both companies with the cultural icon that is Grand Theft Auto, we’ve agreed to the PlayStation exclusive rights of the next great franchise from the Rockstar studios.

Everyone knows to have success in this business you need to look ahead, identifying the talent and titles that are going to give consumers new kinds of gaming experiences that help set the bar for the rest of the industry. Rockstar has a heritage for doing just that. We have had incredible success with the GTA franchise and are happy to continue to offer those titles on our platforms, and even more excited about what’s to come from the current and future relationship between our companies. Rockstar really wanted to make a game that you can truly only do on PS3, harnessing the power of CELL and Blu-ray disc and this deal lets them do just that.. This is really a win-win situation for both companies. As Jack mentioned in the interview with Geoff, this franchise is not LA Noire, but something all new. We agreed with Rockstar and Take-Two Interactive Software that we wouldn’t disclose anything more about the deal or title at this time, so stay tuned, we’ll share more info as soon as we can."

"Rockstar really wanted to make a game that you can truly only do on PS3, harnessing the power of CELL and Blu-ray disc and this deal lets them do just that.. This is really a win-win situation for both companies."

Do you think Rockstar games will become the Bungie of the PS3 from here on out?

Bungie has no ties to Microsoft aside from the rights to the Halo franchise and yet they continue to make games only for the Xbox even though they just keep making Halo games I see them making another franchise exclusive to the Xbox again.

It would be crazy if everything after Max Payne 3, RDR, and LA Noire was exclusive to the PS3. Maybe even the NEXT GTA.... (No fanboyism just a question)

Back on topic - This game will more than likely be the best looking game Rockstar North will have ever created, due to how much time they've been spending on it (probably working on it since 2007 along side GTA IV) and the PS3's impeccable cell processor and disc format. I just wanna se a trailer of this along with MAX PAYNE 3

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CharmingCharlie
223

CharmingCharlie 223

Ok I am going to say this ONCE and ONCE only, shut up with the damn fanboyism. Talk about the game and only the game. I will be keeping my eye on this topic and if I see a mere hint of Sony or MS leg humping I will quite happily do a bit of banning.

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3minty3
0

3minty3 0

Obviously im going to need to see some screens or at least have some more info to know if this game is to my tastes but being a huge rockstar north fan i cant wait to see how this one turns out. Im just worried that the era that the game is set in is going to put me off.

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Mafioso86
3

Mafioso86 3

I think Sony made a smart deal with Rockstar, If anything I think this is how it went down.

(ALL OF THIS IS COMPLETELY HYPOTHETICAL AND COULD HAVE BEEN DONE THE OPPOSITE WAY)

When the PS3 was being developed and was delayed a year and the 360 was already out R* was already in talks with Sony first way before Microsoft was. And R* said "hey we understand we have a close relationship with you and your platforms, but you must consider that we are a company who focuses on making business and we plan to do that in all facets, so you must expect us to branch to the other platforms to enhance our productivity (due to the massive amount of potential the 360 has and already has been showing) , so what shall we do to keep our relationship from falling.... :shows what they have planned for 2007-2010 and some conceptual Ideas for next gen consoles:

Table Tennis

GTA IV & DLC

MC LA

RDR (Concept)

LA Noire (Concept) (originally funded LOL)

Max Payne 3

Agent (Concept)

Sony agrees to R* and T2 that they would let all titles to be released on both consoles on the same date globally (IOW all titles are fair game to all platforms) in exchange for one complete EXCLUSIVE franchise only for the PS3, T2 and R* come to a mutual agreement and it is set instone. Then Months later R* contacts Microsoft and gets word of Sony's plan and

Microsoft must start where Sony left and acquires EXCLUSIVITY to GTA's DLC and Table Tennis.

I dunno there may be many holes in this theory but its how I see.

I have a buddy that works in the industry and he was telling me that what happened was Microsoft approached R* with the offer of $50million for two GTAIV DLCs that would be 360 exclusives. Before R* signed any deal they actually went to Sony to see if they had a counter offer of sorts. What Sony came up with was that they wanted a new franchise that would be a PS3 exclusive rather than having the GTA DLCs as exclusives. So that's what went down... both were pretty clever moves in my opinion. While the DLC being tied into one of the best selling franchises seems like a safe bet... having a brand new exclusive franchise to your console could in the end work out even better.

One other thing I would like to note is that a lot of you are speculating that this is going to be their take on Bond... but I think you guys are off on that. I expect something a lot grittier and more clandestine, much less politically correct than Bond. You may be assassinating good men for the pure reason that they label themselves "socialist" or "capitalist" and they won't take bribes from the governments of the US/USSR. This happened all the time back then... and nothing was as black and white as it ever seemed it Bond. Both sides did terrible things in black ops wars throughout the third world all for the sake of greater power for themselves. I think this game is going to be more about taking out the new democratically elected president of some Latin American country that won't take orders from your government or secretly meeting with "enemy" agents to work out deals than it will be about drinking martinis or stopping the Soviets from building a super weapon.

Lastly... the more I'm thinking about it, I'm not so sure that this game is meant to be a successor to GTA at all, I could see it as more of a successor to Max Payne or maybe the Red Dead series. As the wise Jacky Fiend pointed out the idea of Agent being the "ultimate action game" is vague, saying it's the ultimate anything is just marketing, and I notice that R* uses this kind of language a lot in their pitches... it doesn't mean that it's meant to make their own other franchises obsolete. And as Jackie also pointed out calling GTA an action game isn't totally accurate, it has a lot of other elements to it... where as something like Max Payne is pure action. As far as R* North being able to create multiple games at one time... it worries me a little bit, just for the sake of GTAs future; but keep in mind that both Manhunt games were developed at the same time as GTA games, so there's probably nothing to worry about.

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Slamman
129

Slamman 129

A console is not a Handheld system, BTW, and GTA Dude, you are not correct, I've stated more then once that support for this GTA4 will extend for some time, beyond two exclusive DLCs. Just you wait and see, don't ASSUME!

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Slamman
129

Slamman 129

No, it's not. NOT a console. I firmly believe this, A Handheld gaming platform is a Portable, or Portable Gaming System. Console is a large, heavy object, the origin relates to HUGE TV and STEREO cabinets.

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Spaghetti Cat
3,229

Spaghetti Cat 3,229

A 1978 cable from the US ambassador to Paraguay, Robert White, to the Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, was published on March 6, 2001 by the New York Times. In the cable Ambassador White reported a conversation with General Alejandro Fretes Davalos, chief of staff of Paraguay's armed forces, who informed him that the South American intelligence chiefs involved in Condor "[kept] in touch with one another through a U.S. communications installation in the Panama Canal Zone which cover[ed] all of Latin America". According to Davalos, this installation was "employed to co-ordinate intelligence information among the southern cone countries". Robert White feared that the US connection to Condor might be publicly revealed at a time when the assassination in the U.S.A. of Chilean former minister Orlando Letelier and his American assistant Ronni Moffitt was being investigated. White cabled that "it would seem advisable to review this arrangement to insure that its continuation is in US interest."

The "information exchange" (via telex) included torture techniques (e.g. near-drowning, and playing recordings of victims who were being tortured to their families).

This demonstrates that the US facilitated communications for Operation Condor, and has been called by J. Patrice McSherry (Long Island Univ.) "another piece of increasingly weighty evidence suggesting that U.S. military and intelligence officials supported and collaborated with Condor as a secret partner or sponsor."

Brezhnev sent Nixon a letter in the middle of the night of October 23–24. In that letter, Brezhnev proposed that American and Soviet contingents be dispatched to ensure both sides honor the cease-fire. He also threatened that "I will say it straight that if you find it impossible to act jointly with us in this matter, we should be faced with the necessity urgently to consider taking appropriate steps unilaterally. We cannot allow arbitrariness on the part of Israel."[126] In short, the Soviets were threatening to intervene in the war on Egypt's side.

The Soviets placed seven airborne divisions on alert and airlift was marshalled to transport them to the Middle East. An airborne command post was set up in the southern Soviet Union. Several air force units were also alerted. "Reports also indicated that at least one of the divisions and a squadron of transport planes had been moved from the Soviet Union to an airbase in Yugoslavia". The Soviets also deployed seven amphibious warfare craft with some 40,000 naval infantry in the Mediterranean.

The message arrived after Nixon had gone to bed. Kissinger immediately called a meeting of senior officials, including Defense Secretary James Schlesinger, CIA Director William Colby, and White House Chief of Staff Alexander Haig. The Watergate scandal had reached its apex, and Nixon was so agitated and discomposed that they decided to handle the matter without him:

When Kissinger asked Haig whether [Nixon] should be wakened, the White House chief of staff replied firmly 'No.' Haig clearly shared Kissinger's feelings that Nixon was in no shape to make weighty decisions.

The meeting produced a conciliatory response, which was sent (in Nixon's name) to Brezhnev. At the same time, it was decided to increase the Defense Condition (DEFCON) from four to three. Lastly, they approved a message to Sadat (again, in Nixon's name) asking him to drop his request for Soviet assistance, and threatening that if the Soviets were to intervene, so would the United States.

The Soviets quickly detected the increased American defense condition, and were astonished and bewildered at the response. "Who could have imagined the Americans would be so easily frightened," said Nikolai Podgorny. "It is not reasonable to become engaged in a war with the United States because of Egypt and Syria," said Premier Alexei Kosygin, while KGB chief Yuri Andropov added that "We shall not unleash the Third World War." In the end, the Soviets reconciled themselves to an Arab defeat. The letter from the American cabinet arrived during the meeting. Brezhnev decided that the Americans were too nervous, and that the best course of action would be to wait to reply. The next morning, the Egyptians agreed to the American suggestion, and dropped their request for assistance from the Soviets, bringing the crisis to an end.

Frustrated, Nixon decided to try something new: threaten the Soviet Union with a massive nuclear strike and make its leaders think he was crazy enough to go through with it. His hope was that the Soviets would be so frightened of events spinning out of control that they would strong-arm Hanoi, telling the North Vietnamese to start making concessions at the negotiating table or risk losing Soviet military support.

Codenamed Giant Lance, Nixon's plan was the culmination of a strategy of premeditated madness he had developed with national security adviser Henry Kissinger. The details of this episode remained secret for 35 years and have never been fully told. Now, thanks to documents released through the Freedom of Information Act, it's clear that Giant Lance was the leading example of what historians came to call the "madman theory": Nixon's notion that faked, finger-on-the-button rage could bring the Soviets to heel.

The US had come perilously close to nuclear war before: During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, the nation's nuclear forces were poised for imminent use in response to Soviet actions. And on several occasions, aircraft carrying nuclear weapons had crashed; other times, radar operators had misinterpreted flocks of migrating birds as a Soviet first strike. October 1969, however, was different. This was the only moment we know of when a president decided that it made strategic sense to pretend to launch World War III.

The last one was in late '69 (heh heh) but it should give some flavor on what was going on during that time.